Why brands want to be your best friend

Hello there, bestie!  

A little jarring to read in an article, isn’t it? Exactly. Now imagine your food delivery app or worse, insurance company, greeting you that way on Instagram. You don’t need super imagination powers for this because it is the reality. Brands have moved away from their authoritative tone. They don't talk ‘at’ the audiences any more, they speak to them. Not like a brand but like their best friend. 

For brands, sounding like consumers’ best friend isn’t just a fleeting trend. It is a well-planned, tried-and-tested strategy that has taken shape over the years. A team of young copywriters and social media managers has helped make this happen. 

Recently, IKEA slid into DMs with a rather friendly text late at night. The brand asked 200 users, “U up?” and whoever replied between 10 PM and 5 AM in Canada, a free mattress landed at their doorstep. This social media activity was also converted into a billboard, displaying the same two-word message.

This playful tonality adopted by IKEA adds a personal touch and establishes the brand as approachable and human. 

Closer home, too, whether it’s a tea brand tweeting about heartbreak, a cab aggregator sharing memes about traffic, or a payment app joking about being broke with you – there has been a clear shift in the way brands talk on social media. The voice of power has made way for a tone that’s humorous, self-aware, and culturally fluent.

But what brought us here? 

Consumers? Nope. Bestie! 

This shift in brand tonality started with a few standout examples. Zomato broke the fourth wall with meta posts and food puns. Netflix India became a pop culture commentator. Swiggy Instamart embraced chaos and randomness with relatable situations and exaggerated emojis. Duolingo turned its mascot into a feral online presence, blurring the line between brand and meme.

What they all have in common is a tone of voice that isn’t selling something directly; it’s participating in the conversation like a peer.

Consider Spotify India’s Wrapped campaigns, where the brand addresses you like a longtime friend who knows your guilty pleasures and heartbreak anthems. The content feels personal, self-deprecating, and oddly affirming. It is a sharp contrast from the polished, untouchable tone of legacy marketing.

Gen Z made us do it

Thanks to Gen Z’s influence on marketing, brands are reconsidering their approach to top-down communication. This young generation expects to be in on the joke, and brands are realising that. They don’t want to be sold to. They want to be seen, heard, and laughed with.

“If your brand still sounds like a textbook, Gen Z has already swiped left,” says Mohit Ghate, Co-founder at Wit & Chai.

With a collective spending power of $860 billion in 2024, which is projected to hit $12 trillion by 2030, Gen Z isn’t just influential, they’re economically unstoppable. 65% of Gen Z uses Instagram daily, and 1 in 3 follows brands. But not because they’re craving a hard sell, they are here for a vibe. 

“Sometimes it’s FOMO, sometimes it’s curiosity, but almost always, they’re looking for relatability,” adds Ghate. 

85% of Kindlife’s audience, a Gen Z-first beauty and wellness platform, is under 34. The brand’s social media strategy, which isn’t just a platform but an extension of their personality, is all about keeping things as real and kind as possible, says Founder & CEO Radhika Ghai. She uses three more adjectives to describe their tone of voice on social media: approachable, real, and community-first. And this tonality was carefully crafted before building their social media presence.

“Our audience doesn’t engage with one-way brand talk,” Ghai shares. This was the thought that shaped how the brand speaks. “Our tone and content are shaped by our in-house team, which is young, plugged into what’s trending and constantly experimenting with formats - whether it’s gamified drops, interactive stories or creator-led moments. We didn’t shift into this tone. We started that way because it’s how our audience connects best,” she adds. 

So who’s writing all these witty, weird posts? In most cases, it’s a mix of in-house digital teams and agile agencies who live and breathe the internet. There’s a growing trend of social media managers being given freedom to craft posts in real-time, especially around trends, memes, or moment marketing.

For Urbanic, a fashion platform, this was never an afterthought. “The ‘brand as a friend’ tone wasn’t a pivot; it was a founding principle,” says Rahul Dayama, Founding Partner. “We’re not trying to sound like a traditional brand; we’re trying to sound like someone you’d want to follow, talk to, and tag your friends in a reel with.”

And Kindlife, a brand that sells skin care products, doesn’t just highlight the functionalities of their range on social media. The focus is on self-care and becoming a medium of self-expression.

Similarly, Urbanic has also chosen to move beyond just selling clothes. “We weren’t just selling clothes; we were showing up in timelines, comment sections, and DMs. And if we were going to be part of that space, we had to feel like someone you'd naturally want in your circle,” shares Dayama. 

While Gen Z may have pushed brands towards this tone, now other age groups have grown to like it, too. 

“It started with Gen Z, but it has now influenced how consumers across age groups engage with brands. Today, people expect real conversations, and we have to keep it real,” says Ghai. 

Dayama seconds this opinion. “The best friend tone, when done authentically, extends beyond Gen Z. It’s about building a relatable personality that any customer can connect with. It’s quickly becoming the default for how modern brands communicate, regardless of age demo. Today, everyone expects more humanity in brand behaviour.”

Distance apart but close, close

This friendly tone isn't just about relatability; it's about creating parasocial relationships. Much like influencers, brands today try to simulate intimacy through consistent, casual interactions. You don't just follow a brand; you banter with it, tag it, laugh with it. 

“This tone used by brands isn’t accidental; it’s intentional,” says Ghate. “It’s more of a strategic move to build parasocial relationships, where followers feel a personal connection with the brand.”

With this, there’s an illusion of closeness. While there’s awareness that it is a brand that you are speaking to, it also feels like a friend, blurring the emotional lines. 

Don’t take that tone with me! 

The line between funny and forced is thin. Many brands have faced backlash for trying too hard to be cool. Remember when brands jumped on slang like ‘bae’ or misused memes? Audiences can spot inauthenticity instantly.

“Many brands are still fumbling their way through tone like they just discovered Instagram yesterday. Brands are adapting their tone, sure, but most are doing it wrong. It’s like using a tractor on an expressway,” says Ghate. “Either drive a car or plough a field, but know what you're built for.” 

“Gen Z have an uncanny radar for fakes. If you're not being real, they’ll scroll right past,” warns Ghate. “Gen Z doesn’t want you to act like their best friend. They just want to know you’re not trying too hard.” 

Ghate points out that too many brands hope to become the next Duolingo owl by slapping on a meme. But that’s not strategy, he adds, that’s noise. Before anything else, Ghate advises, ask yourself why you’re talking like that.

“Not every brand needs a punchline. If you're built as a no-nonsense legacy brand, don't contort into a jester just to keep up. Gen Z might love humour, but they crave authenticity more,” says Ghate.

Best friends forever

Unhinged humour, sass, brainrot content – while these may be passing trends that Gen Z has gifted us with, experts believe the ‘brand-as-BFF’ tone is here to stay. 

“The format may evolve, but the core expectation of relatability and authenticity will stay,” agrees Ghai.

“The ‘brand as a friend’ trend isn’t going away, it’s just evolving,” says Dayama. “As audiences mature and platforms diversify, brands will need to strike a balance between being friendly and being meaningful.”

He adds that the next wave might include a deeper focus on emotional nuance, purpose, and real-time listening. 

“But the days of robotic, one-way communication are behind us. Whether it’s through humour, values, or storytelling, the expectation is clear: sound like a human or risk being ignored,” adds Dayama. 

So, can a brand really be your best friend? Not quite. But it can sound like one, and that illusion, when well created, is sticky enough to hold attention in a crowded feed.

“Stop trying to go viral. Start being valuable. Don’t chase trends. Understand them,” advises Ghate. “And please, don’t be that uncle trying to rap because your niece said it’s cool.”

Just don’t be surprised if your furniture brand slides into your DMs with a meme about your Monday mood. It’s not jarring. It’s just branding now.